Bristol School Exclusions Data for 2020 to 2021

July 29, 2022July 29, 2022

How useful the exclusion data is for this particular academic year is debatable. Covid school closures impacted upon attendance with many schools having a staggered start in the September of 2020 as well as further school closures in the January of 2021. Due to the virus, children were also regularly absent with symptoms of the virus or Covid itself. Some pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) or those who were vulnerable never made it back into school at all.

The data in Bristol does not give the full picture of exclusions. The city is a very high user of Alternative Learning Provision, which can mask off rolling. Many stressed and anxious pupils end up in the Bristol Hospital Education Service. This can also be a form of off rolling by pushing out pupils instead of putting Send provision in place. There is also use of part time timetables and some schools unlawfully exclude pupils by having parents or carers collect them during the day without using the lawful process to do so. There is also the use of Managed Moves, which sees a child moving to another school one or more times without having and exclusion on their record. These are ways of masking the true reality of exclusions in Bristol.

For some schools, the global pandemic showed no signs of slowing down school exclusions, with the data for Bristol schools broken down into phases below.

Exclusion Data for Bristol Secondary Schools

Only two secondary schools permanently excluded pupils during the year:
Bridge Learning Campus and St Bernadette Catholic Secondary School – who both removed one pupil from their rolls.

The top five secondary schools for suspensions were:
Blaise High School – 600
Oasis Academy Brightstowe – 290
The City Academy -268
St Bernadette Catholic Secondary School – 231
Bristol Metropolitan Academy – 197

Exclusion Data for Bristol Specialist Settings
Knowle DGE was the only specialist setting which permanently excluded a pupil.

Only four settings suspended pupils. These were:
North Star 240 – 50
Elmfield School for Deaf Children – 21
North Star 82 – 13
New Fosseway School – 2

Exclusion Data for Bristol Primary Schools
Four primary schools permanently excluded a pupil during the academic year. These were:
Cabot Primary School
Fonthill Primary School
May Park Primary School
Summerhill Academy

The top five primary schools for suspensions were:

St Barnabas Church of England VC Primary School – 36
Henbury Court Primary Academy – 25
Air Balloon Primary School – 18
St Pius X RC Primary School – 18
Fonthill Primary Academy – 18